Acts 8

1 And Saul was consenting to his death. And in that day there was a great persecution on the church at Jerusalem, and all were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

2 And devout men buried Stephen and made a great mourning over him.

3 But Saul ravaged the church, entering into every house. And dragging men and women, he delivered them up to prison.

4 Then, indeed, the ones who had been scattered passed through, preaching the gospel, the Word.

5 And Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed Christ to them.

6 And the people with one accord gave heed to those things which Philip spoke, hearing and seeing the many miracles which he did.

7 For out of those having unclean spirits, many came out, crying with loud voice. And many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed.

8 And there was great joy in that city.

9 But a certain man called Simon had long been conjuring in the city, and amazing the nation of Samaria, claiming himself to be some great one.

10 All gave heed to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, This one is the great power of God.

11 And they were paying attention to him, because for a long time he had amazed them with conjuring.

12 But when they believed Philip preaching the gospel, the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

13 Then Simon himself believed also, and being baptized, he continued with Philip. And seeing miracles and mighty works happening, he was amazed.

14 And the apostles in Jerusalem hearing that Samaria had received the Word of God, they sent Peter and John to them;

15 who when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.

16 For as yet He had not fallen on any of them, they were baptized only in the name of the Lord Jesus.

17 Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

18 And when Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money,

19 saying, Give me this power also, that on whomever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Spirit.

20 But Peter said to him, May your silver perish with you, because you have thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.

21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God.

22 Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.

23 For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.

24 And answering Simon said, You pray to the Lord for me that none of these things which you have spoken may come on me.

25 Then, indeed, having earnestly testified and having spoken the Word of the Lord also having preached the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans, they returned to Jerusalem.

26 And the angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, Arise and go toward the south, on the way that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, which is a deserted place.

27 And he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasure and had come to Jerusalem to worship,

28 was returning. And sitting in his chariot he read Isaiah the prophet.

29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, Go near and join yourself to this chariot.

30 And Philip ran there to him and heard him read the prophet Isaiah, and said, Do you indeed understand what you are reading?

31 And he said, How can I unless some man should guide me? And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.

32 And the content of the Scripture which he read was this: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so He opened not His mouth.

33 In His humiliation His judgment was taken away, and who shall declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth."

34 And the eunuch answered Philip and said, I beg you, of whom does the prophet speak this? Of himself or of some other man?

35 Then Philip opened his mouth and began at the same Scripture and preached the gospel of Jesus to him.

36 And as they passed along the way, they came on some water. And the eunuch said, See, here is water, what hinders me from being baptized?

37 Philip said, If you believe with all your heart, it is lawful. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still. And they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch. And he baptized him.

39 And when they had come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more. And he went on his way rejoicing.

40 But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached the gospel in all the cities until he came to Caesarea.